The Race to the Future

‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. These were the words uttered by Neil Armstrong, the moment he stepped foot on the moon, bringing to fruition the penultimate phase of the space race.

The space race was a monumental event in world history, which occurred during the middle of the cold war, and set a precedent for the future of space research. It also solidified the USSRs and the USA’s power and influence over the world.

Starting in 1957, with the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik 1, the space race would see space become the new battleground for a proxy war between capitalist America and communist USSR whilst also serving as a time of increasing tension between the two global superpowers.

In 1959, the USSR launched Luna-1, the first manmade object to be launched into heliocentric orbit, which was followed by the USA’s launch of pioneer 4 to do a fly past of the moon. This led to the launch of Luna-2 by the USSR. On this went, like a never ending tennis match with no clear victor, with each country working to outdo the other with continuous exploration of new and never seen before technology.

One of the biggest moments of the Space Race was when Yuri Gagarin was sent into space by the USSR in April of 1961, marking the first time a man was sent into space. This was a huge accomplishment for the Soviet Union, which propelled them ahead of the USA.

In retaliation, in May of the same year, the USA sent Alan Shepard into space, making him the first American in space, and launched the Apollo missions. This was also the year where President John F Kennedy made his shocking statement that America would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

As the cold war progressed, tension rose between countries, with the 1960s bringing huge events such as the USSR detonating the Tsar Bomba, the cuban missile crisis, the USA building the technology which allowed multiple independently targeted warheads to be fired from one missile, and the USSR developing anti-ballistic missile systems to shoot down US missiles. The decade ended with an event that changed the world. An event that would be remembered for centuries. An event that changed the future of space exploration. The moon landing.

The Apollo 11 mission landed astronauts Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin and Neil Armstrong (piloted by astronaut Michael Collins) on the moon, effectively bringing the space race to a close.

What formally ended the space race was the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975, where the United States and the USSR docked two spacecrafts together and performed scientific experiments over 2 days, as a show of unity and harmony.

And that brings the space race to an end, leaving behind a legacy that would be remembered for generations. The space race altered the course of space exploration, and set the course for space travel on an international level, but it also served as part of a more sinister time, where the world truly witnessed what two global superpowers were capable of.

By Dia Nanda 10F